Avatar WITCH Edition
by katerinaaqu
Summary: Caleb Barton is a veteran marine who feels like he has nothing more to lose in his life. His planet is slowly dying out and sinking to despair in his eyes by the day. But his life is to change forever; He and his partner Cornelia are to pilot biological bodies called Avatars to meet with the local Na'Vi. They meet the giants Ballard and Dilla and all their world crumbles at once..
1. Introduction

**_Pandora;_**  
**_A world of wonder and mystery; incredible danger and strange beauty. From Earth's southern hemisphere you can see the solar system where Pandora is located. Alpha Centauri; at a distance of 4.4 light years from Earth, the Alpha Centauri system is our nearest stellar neighbor. The largest of its two sunlight stars; Alpha Centauri A, or ACA to astronomers, is Pandora's sun._**  
**_Pandora is one of the many moons orbiting the planet Polyphemus; a gas giant at the side of Saturn. Pandora's toxic at-mosphere makes it uninhabitable by humans._**  
**_Tropical rainforests cover a large part of each of the continents. These rainforests are similar to those that once covered the Amazon basin but on a scale several times the size of anything on Earth._**  
**_A wide variety of animals can be found throughout Pandora; awe-inspiring and dangerous. Most animals, including the winged creatures of the sky are hexapods; six-limbed; except the humanoid Na'vi; standing 9 to 10 feet tall. The Direhorses are six-legged behemoth, used by the Na'vi for hunting and tracking. The Na'vi also use the Banshee to hunt from the air. But hunter can become prey in the presence of the even larger Great Leonopteryx._**  
**_In the canopy below, other vicious predators roam; packs of Viperwolves, thick-skinned Hammerhead Tetanotherae and the most fearsome land predator, the Thanator._**  
**_But there's beauty even in the most frightening things. In a dream-like landscape reminiscent of a painting, vast magnetic fields coupled with exotic properties of Unobtanium, allow the Halleluiah Mountains to float in flocks, constantly moving._**  
**_As the most efficient super-conductor known to exist, Unobtanium is a rare Earth mineral mined by humans and the sole reason of their presence on Pandora_**  
**_Every living organism in Pandora has bioluminescent qualities that set the nights aglow; plants, animals and marine or-ganisms share the same trait emitting light in breathtaking patterns. From what scientists can tell, the Pandoran ecology works and communicates like a neural system, suggesting a symbiotic relationship between all things on Pandora. Per-haps the best symbols of this relationship are small, luminescent woodsprites which are the seeds of the Vitraya Ramunong, the Tree of Souls. The tree is sacred to the Na'vi and believed to be the heart of the deep connection of all life._**  
**_Pandora. One can only think of its namesake in Greek Mythology. The Box has been opened. Amidst the savage terrain and fierce creatures, we must assume this strange bewitching place might hold something inside it for us all._**  
**_Hope for our race, for our planet and for the future of all living things._**

* * *

Hello everyone! Long time no story-posting!

So for those of you that did see my latest journal on DA then you already know I was planning on posting the very first full story, which happens to be a crossover, between the cannon W.I.T.C.H characters and our OCs, the Tribals, whom you can find in my good friend's gallery ( **YarArts2** -DA-) as well as her several blogs.

Avatar and James Cameron year, as you heard and this crossover story will be posted one chapter at a time. I decided to start from today because I have already sent my reports and I am kinda free now. Still have work to do but I still am better now.

So...here is a little introduction of the story. The monolog is said in a documentary-like way by our dearest Grace Augustine of Avatar movie in the preview of Pandora **"Pandora Discovered" **(on Youtube)

I considered it like a fair deal to post this as an introduction because I found it really charming and really well-made for a start and I kept it out of respect plus I loved the way it was set.

Chapters are following the original script, movie and video game timeline minus some details here and there that will change place. I also take my chances at some descriptions since the script was not always imformative. For instance I had to come up with descriptions of the bond between creatures myself, since it was not mentioned. Some heroes of the original story will keep their names as a reminder of the owner.

As for the cover image is put together by me:

Base - Avatar way of water poster

Heart of Kandrakar - tattoo design by the amazing **MistyQue** -DA-

Black Letters - Made with logo makers of different patterns

W.I.T.C.H belongs to Disney

Avatar belongs to James Cameron

Writing/Editing done by me

Tribes of Meridian belong to me and **YarArts2**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Life on Earth had become worthless to live; impossible to enjoy. There was nothing worth fighting for, except for money and supposedly more living space. Those were the gloom thoughts Caleb was making, sipping his almost tasteless coffee by the window, even if there was nothing he could really look at. Even here, in his training camp, he could see the distant chimneys of the countless factories emitting thick, black smoke; that merciless giant that was making the earthen atmosphere practically unbreathable and their rain almost toxic. He could not remember playing in the rain as a child. He had tried once, and his skin started getting itchy and his eyes sore. He sighed, taking a bite from his Nutritious Bar. He chewed on it pensively. Occasionally he wondered how world used to be, before humans stepped on it, before humans _destroyed_ it. The sound of a distant horn reached his ears; the signal that lunch was almost over and that he had to go out once more to his military training but Caleb decided to take his time for now. He looked at his unfinished lunch. Even food was tasteless.

"_Tasteless food synthetic flavors and man-made fibers..! Food supplements that pretend being the plate of the day… A tasteless meal, the same tasteless as our lives are!"_ the marine thought bitterly.

There was nothing to give you pleasure in this world; only fake love affairs and lustful promises that were never fulfilled. Caleb tried to find happiness more times than he could count; aimlessly and desperately seeking for some pleasure in this world. He had hooked up with women before; he even managed to make five or six relationships that lasted long enough and even then both got bored and called it quits. After some times and failed attempts, he even stopped aiming to find happiness in a relationship. Disgusted as he was, the marine stopped chasing the woman for what she was and just aimed to get what they both wanted; the pleasure of the moment. The relationships ended up becoming one-night stands and soon even that started feeling tasteless to him, tasteless like the meals he was having every day. And so, the young marine stopped even trying and would hook up with a woman only when he was in the mood, _if _he ever were in the mood. He found himself uninterested and sometimes even others seemed uninterested in him. And of course it wasn't a matter of bad looks. Caleb was a rather handsome young man with wheat-white skin (covered in a few battle scars that so much seemed to turn women on), chestnut-brown short-cut hair and bright, emerald-green eyes. Oh, his eyes definitely seemed to be his attractive point, despite the hardened muscles of his training. His eyes were sparkling with braveness, stubbornness and compassion at times, something that seemed totally useless qualification to a soldier and yet it was what made his eyes sparkle in that unique way. Oh, yes, Caleb was definitely a handsome young man and yet all girls he associated with, seemed totally uninterested in an honest relationship with him; seeming more content letting him buying them drinks and then take them to his small and narrow apartment, have wild sex in his narrow bed or on the floor, not even bothered whether the TV was blaring next to them or not and then find the door by the morning. He no longer sought for romance. He sought for carnal pleasure. And sometimes, not even for that…

Caleb wondered, or better, _feared_ that relationship had become yet another game of amusement, to his planet; something that had long now lost its actual meaning. He wondered if it had it in the first place. He was barely 23 years old and he still felt like fed up with anything that had to do with women or relationships. And yet, he could not bring himself giving up on humanity just yet. He felt like a naïve fool for that but some part of his still believed that there was hope for the world. Every time he came to that conclusion he felt like laughing at himself. He wondered where that optimism came from. Nothing in this world seemed to prove him any potential for a positive change and yet Caleb often saw a secret hope in some people's eyes; faces that seemed like lighthouses in the mist of motionless and uncaring people. For some reason, Caleb's stubborn and fighting spirit refused to give up on hope that something could happen, maybe a message to be passed to people so they could wake up from their dreamless, gray slumber and perhaps…

"Soldier! What are you doing there! Break is over!"

Caleb looked up to see his superior yelling at him. His face was like a calm lake of water compared to the red-faced, outraged soldier that was now over his head.

"Are you not listening to me?"

"Loud and clear, sir!" Caleb replied calmly

He stood up from his seat and saluted the infuriated man. The other had no choice but doing the same and giving him permission to lower his.

"Quit daydreaming, soldier, you have work to do!"

"Yes, sir. Apologies, sir. I was about to join the others at the yard!"

"Well, do that! Quick!"

Caleb sighed and did what he was taught to do; he obeyed his superior. Tranquil as he was, he gathered the tray with his unfinished lunch and after cleaning after himself, he quitted the room with open step.

* * *

Two figures were constantly pacing up and down at a poorly lit room. The glowing touch-screen tablets in their hands were one of the poor light sources inside the room. They both seemed drawn into their conversation.

"Preparations are almost done!" one of the two said in a deep-tenor, velvet voice

"Indeed" the other one replied in a tenor voice, "Thankfully government gave us the money necessary to start the experiment on the foreign land, and that's no small thing!"

"Indeed," agreed the first, "Five billion dollars are not easy to obtain, even to the highest of places of authority. And we're practically asking them to give them for a test. Thankfully the government shares our worries on the Pandoran matter."

"How not to?" the second replied, "The greatest hope for our planet, the most precious mineral in the universe and so many human lives are threatened every day. If anything, they expect their work not to be thrown in the garbage!"

"So!" the first man leaned back to his chair, scrolling down his tablet, "We need to decide upon the possible candidates. We certainly need young, healthy people who will be able to make it through."

"That was my opinion too. Anything could happen and we must make sure that nothing unexpected will ruin the project. My opinion is that other qualifies should be required."

"Such as?" the first man seemed interested

The tenor-voiced man left the tablet upon the office they had before them and leaned against it himself.

"I believe we should search our volunteers in the army. We do not know what lies ahead and how they will be treated by the creatures. Someone with the necessary means and knowledge to defend himself, is definitely preferable."

"Hm, true, that was something that bothered me as well. I feared that I was the only one who considered that possibility."

"Not at all, sire, I myself believe that and if I may suggest, it could be a good idea to send a male and a female out there."

"Ho?"

"The scientists in our station suggest it would be a good idea to see how all genders are treated. Of course that is not necessarily an important matter…"

"No, Cedric…" the first voice replied, "We must consider all the benefits we can get from it. And if this brings the best results then we will do it."

"Very well, sire!"

"Something else, Cedric…"

"Yes, sir?"

"Who's in charge of the basis?"

"Foreman Takeda, sir, still he hasn't returned on Earth. Probably he is not called back."

"Good. A fanatic is better in this position for now. He is easier to control at times."

"He cannot be bought"

"Everyone has his price, Cedric. Some people are bought with money and some others with promises. Keep in touch with him."

"As you wish. Now what are you thinking about our candidates? Where should we look for them?"

"I already considered that, Cedric." The man said self-complacently.

He scrolled his tablet down and then turned it to the man he named Cedric. His companion took it and looked at a list of names appearing to the screen with a small picture placed to the left of each one of them.

"This list contains some soldiers with very good potential to their units. I am planning on visiting them and deciding upon the ones we need."

Cedric's face was illuminated by the screen of the tablet, revealing a pale face with grayish-blue eyes and blonde hair. He had one brow cocked up in question.

"So…you had planned it already from the beginning."

It was not a question. The other man made an 'hm' sound, proof that he had smirked in the darkness.

"I wanted to make sure that my hypothesis was correct," he finally said, "I wanted someone else to express the same thought as I did. Now that you did, I am certain we are on the right track."

The blonde man named Cedric smirked defeated.

"Please warn me next time, sir!"

"Oh, I'll do something better than that, Cedric! I want you to check the ones on the list. Send your most trusted men too, if you have to, but I want the candidates by the end of the month."

"How many candidates do we need exactly?"

"Two." The answer was immediate.

"Very well, sir. Your orders will be executed down to exact detail."

"I know, Cedric. I trust you. And to prove this to you, I'll tell you I have narrowed the list. You can check the first five bases. If you are not satisfied with them, check the other twenty five."

"Understood"

"Excellent. Then we are done for today!"

The two men stood up and exchanged a handshake in the darkness as a final departing gesture before Cedric turning around and leaving the room. Upon hearing the automatic door sliding closed, the man sat back to his office chair and took the tablet. He scrolled a little bit to the screen and smiled satisfied at the results. Before him, among other names and ranks of soldiers at bases all over the country, was a picture of a green-eyed, brunette soldier looking serenely and sincerely towards the camera.

* * *

**Hello guys! It's me again with yet another chapter of my Crossover between James Cameron's Avatar and W.I.T.C.H characters, with first suggestion idea belonging to my friend **_YarArts2 _**while the story originally belongs to James Cameron with editions and changes to the plot done by moi!**

**I post the chapter taking under consideration the recent birthday of **_HeartStorm4Ever (DA account) _**Once more Happy Birthday dear and sorry for being late to post a gift!**

**This is chapter one, that gives you an idea of what I am preparing to have my story look like. Not much is going on in this chapter, mostly we have the first introduction to the protagonist; Caleb, who, in a way, takes the role of Jake Sully of the original Avatar movie but also two more characters (one of them clearly stated being Cedric and the other one, you can easily guess who it is but it will be clearly revealed soon enough! )**

**Now, you have probably noticed that the story has some changes here and there and the one is that Caleb is not crippled. The reasons for him not to be in wheelchair are various; number one my friend's **_YarArts2 _**first sketches of him, which you can find at her deviantart gallery page: yararts2/ar… in which Caleb clearly can walk. I decided to keep that.**

**Number two is that I wanted Caleb to be perfectly healthy in order to point out a different course of events (you'll see how) plus in order to show that Caleb's future excitement for his Avatar body has nothing to do with him being able to walk again but with his natural exploring and adventurous behavior. Now some people might think this removes some joys from character development but I hope to prove you otherwise that he is going to have quite a complex character development depending on other things to his personality.**

**Number three, him being perfectly fine in health even in his human body allows me to add more scenes to the novel, to do more character interractions and have a certain level of action on his part on a different angle.**

**Another change that you probably see is that I start the story before the actual Avatar Project. My original idea was that they have never come in contact with the locals at all but then I decided otherwise to have also the school drama added there (but also slightly changed). Here, I can tell you beforehand, Caleb makes a conscious decision to take part in the project and no he has no twin brother to take over for.**

**Also I must tell you that my idea is not to make yet another "save the environment" campaign (indirectly I do show it of course since the theme is the same) nor wish to point out humans as the only "villain" on the story. You will soon see certain interractions in which I want to point out how both sides interracted wrongly to get to war. Yes of course humans are still perceived as invadors and everything but still I wanted to try picturing the other side's hatred too among others. Let's see if I succeed to that. For now we do see things through disappointed Caleb's eyes and yet I hint here some slight optimism on the matter, in which Caleb continues to have faith to humanity. I thought it would be more natural that way.**

**Anyways I hope you like it.**

W.I.T.C.H belongs to Disney

Avatar belongs to James Cameron

Writing/Editing done by me

Tribes of Meridian belong to and **_YarArts2_ **(please visit her page and see her amazing stuff! Possible visuals of this story might be added there too)


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Caleb was at the dining room this time for lunch. The room was filled with soldiers, talking all together creating a buzzing sound, a constant rumble, as if the military base was some kind of beehive, consisted of never-resting workers. Caleb took his tray, thanking the cook with a nod of his head before finding a seat and taking a bite from his usual lunch. Everything seemed calm that day. It was sunny (as sunny it could ever be on Earth anymore) and the morning training had gone alright to him. It was just a normal day, as it seemed and yet something was definitely new. He could feel it, without really knowing the reason. And then he heard some strange voices; soldiers suddenly changed the way they were speaking. They now seemed surprised about something. Caleb leaned back to his bench and saw a couple of people wearing suits, arriving to the spot with two bodyguards. Soldiers were making way for them to come through. Caleb blinked in greater surprise when he realized they were heading to him. The one man was thin and tall, with corn-yellow, blonde hair and bright grayish-blue eyes, shimmering in a strange way. He was dressed in a simple suit with a black tie that was bringing up his silhouette nicely. He had his long hair tied in a low ponytail to the base of his neck. However whom he truly felt stunned from was the second person who walked before him and who also seemed to be in charge. He was a few inches taller, with platinum hair and bright olive-green eyes looking almost feline and seemed able to freeze him solid with their coldness. And yet the man was smirking like he was amused. His face had handsome, thin features and his high cheekbones made him almost look like royal. A discreet goatee covered his chin while his platinum hair was loose and long till below his hips, shiny and strong like a silken river. His suit was much better quality and he finished his appearance with golden cufflinks and one marvelous, velvet, blood-red necktie. His little finger at his right hand was decorated with a large golden ring that led to a bright red garnet stone. The almost regal man approached him and leaned closer to him.

"Caleb Barton, I presume."

Caleb noticed it was not a question. In fact he seemed perfectly able to tell who he was and what his name was even without checking his ID around his neck, which he appeared to be checking now just for show. He swallowed once to surpass his nervousness and faced the man bravely.

"Phobos Escanor, I presume, sir…" he echoed the question

The man appeared amused, for he smirked complacently at the young man, fixing his suit.

"Correct" said he laconically, "I see you do know me and I know you."

"Aye," Caleb replied, "So what is the richest man in USA doing here with me, sir?"

The rich man chuckled, much to Caleb's surprise.

"Straightforward and brave; I like that already!" he said, "Indeed I am to discuss with you a matter of great importance. Can we talk…"

His voice trailed as he looked around at the gathering people who were already forming a circle around them.

"…Somewhere in private?" he finished the question.

Caleb cocked up an eyebrow in question and yet he motioned with his head towards a room to the other side of that hall.

* * *

Soon Caleb found himself sitting at a naked table, within a naked room like a suspect ready to be interrogated. Phobos Escanor was already taking his seat before him, leaving a small briefcase upon the table too. The blonde man was commonly leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. Caleb caught himself taking glances of him even if he didn't want to. Probably Phobos noticed because he smirked and said casually:

"That's my personal assistant and secretary, Cedric Nagar, also has in his hands some of the shares of my company and he is also economical councilor of mine. You may speak freely before him."

"What are you here to discus, sir?" Caleb asked straightly, "I am not convinced that Phobos Escanor, king of Energy Resources who controls more than half of energy creation facilities in USA and about 1/3 of them in Europe and the man who controls the biggest astronomical institution in the world arrived here just to discuss the weather."

Phobos's lips turned upwards in an amused smirk.

"I was right about you, after all" he said as if talking to himself, "You are not like most soldiers and marines who just follow blindly the orders they are given. I've read your file…"

Caleb eyed him questionably.

"You fought in war at the East Coast and you were also servicing in Asia and Polynesia and your superiors are indeed saying you are intelligent and bright and above all, bluntly honest. Some leading abilities were detected, perhaps…"

"I'm not officer-material." Caleb replied almost coldly

"Even so, you showed great potential at organizing your team, as well as marvelous survival abilities. Of course they said you are kind of…unpredictable and untamable but that can easily be fixed. That's why I chose you after all."

"Why are you here, sir?" Caleb asked almost crudely, "You said you chose me. What for? What are you here to discuss?"

"A possible good opportunity for you…" Phobos replied the same bluntly while unlocking his briefcase and opening it. "Tell me, what do you know about Pandora?"

Caleb cocked up an eyebrow.

"Who…?"

"Just as I suspected…" Phobos murmured smirking

He got out of his bag a tablet and lit it on as the holographic screen lit up.

"It's not a 'who', it's a 'where'…" he replied pushing the tablet to Caleb's direction, "Pandora is a satellite around Polyphemus, an air giant in Alpha Centauri A, the closest stellar neighbor to our solar system. The greatest discovery in many centuries of searching the outer space… To put it simply; it's a planet that sustains life!"

Caleb gasped at the vast images he had seen only in old pictures of about a century ago, when in 21st century the world was not yet re-built in concrete. When Phobos said "sustained life" he expected to see some form of primary life and yet, the photographs he saw were a massive existence of greenery and large rainforests, like the ones that once existed in South America so long ago. He saw endless green forest like the one he had only seen in his dreams when he was a child. His eyes must have been wider than the ones of a deer in headlights for Phobos chuckled and leaned more on the table.

"Amazing, isn't it? An entire ecosystem full of life; vast and dangerous lands we have never seen before and we have yet to discover… This world is so much evolved that can be a perfect copy of our planet. It has life, it has water, and it has underground minerals. It has everything we've been looking for in outer space for a century or more!"

Caleb was still rather shocked to speak, so he wordlessly gave the tablet back to Phobos and rubbed the bridge of his nose trying to comprehend with what he had just seen. What he saw had to be a fake! It couldn't be true!

"And…what do you want from me…?" he managed to utter in stewed voice.

Phobos smirked again, in a manner that spoke of 'I thought you'd never ask'.

"Well, as I said, this planet is seen as an identical copy of our own in many things and I mean that it includes also…intelligent forms of life."

Caleb almost chocked in his spit.

"Humans!" he barely whispered, "This planet has humans?"

"Humanoid creatures," Phobos corrected, "Alien forms of life, you might say. However as all locals did before in our human history, the same they do not seem to like us. They have been creating a little bit of commotion to our people residing to the basis. We might try to approach them to avoid the mistakes of the past. A project is on its way to be fulfilled. We are searching for volunteers who will join this experiment and try to approach and converse with those creatures. We are choosing from people who have lived war and that can protect themselves if needed, in a moment of emergency. We still don't know much on those creatures so the task won't be easy."

"So…you want bodyguards…?" Caleb questioned, still in a daze

"We need more than just that." Phobos replied, "We need a type of ambassadors, some people to build a bridge of trust between our race and theirs."

"I am no diplomat, sir. I think you got the wrong guy!"

"Ah, this is where you are wrong, soldier. If we wanted diplomats we would have sent them. The thing is that our project requires…certain qualities only soldiers can provide us; physical and mental strength, above average survival instincts and the capability to navigate in forests. As you see, this world is really dangerous."

"What kind of project is that, to require such things?"

"That is something I will reveal to you after you take the job. You see, it is above top secret of the government. I can tell you, though that your reward will be very good when this project is ended. If you agree, your salary as a marine will be not even needed anymore when you come back!"

"How do you expect me to agree for a job, if I don't know what this job is all about?" Caleb suddenly got his battle spirit back.

To his surprise, Phobos Escanor eyed him and grinned. His green eyes sparkled in a strange manner as he showed his prelate-white teeth. Caleb felt his heart skip a beat in anxiety. He felt almost as if this man could see into his soul!

"Because I know you want nothing else but escaping this planet!" Phobos said almost triumphantly, "I know you are disgusted with Earth the way it is now and that you wish to escape. I, also, know you wish to do some good for people here. I am offering you an opportunity to do both, marine. And I can see it in your eyes that you can see it perfectly well. So, which is it, soldier?"

Caleb remained silent, eyeing the arms he had crossed over his chest. He seemed like ready to start trembling all over. It was as if someone could actually see his mind neurons working to get to the best solution. It was true that such a job was the craziest thing ever asked of him, the craziest possible time and to the craziest possible place. However the images of the jungle were still haunting his mind, making him almost excited at the possibilities. What the hell are you thinking, he immediately scolded himself. As far as he was concerned those pictures could have been created with the simplest possible Photoshop program or even be ultra-realistic painted pictures, however so many details…so many unknown species of animals… No, those were too exotic to be earthly and way too detailed to be set up… He wanted to laugh at himself. They were practically asking him to leave his planet, his _solar system_ to go to an unknown world and he was freaking thinking about it! Phobos, probably, noticed his pensive look, for he gathered the tablet and shut the briefcase closed.

"I understand that this is a great decision for you to make in the second and that it is a vast change…" he said standing up and preparing to leave, "I'll give you three days to think about it…"

"That won't be necessary, sir!"

Caleb's voice was so direct and so immediate that made even Phobos turn around looking rather surprised. Caleb slowly rose from his sit as well.

"It is as you said, sir," Caleb continued, "This planet holds nothing precious to me. I have neither family nor anyone to be particularly sad to my absence. I am training as a marine to help people and I am not lingering to a particular place for too long. If my service is needed outside this planet, then this is where I must go."

His green eyes seemed indeed determined as he eyed the wealthy man straight.

"What do I have to do, sir?"

Phobos remained still and then…burst out laughing. It was the loudest laughter he had shown so far, seeming genuinely excited.

"I was right to come to you after all!" said he when his laugher seized, "Fear not, marine. I will soon inform you with an email for the exact moment of departure and the exact spot of meeting!"

"When?"

"In three days, the most. Therefore I would recommend you to start packing, soldier! And be ready till further notice!"

* * *

**Hi there! I decided to post the next chapter today. I am afraid the other two didn't get as much success (well...one technically since the first one was an intro after all! ) but I think it was about time I posted the next one!**

**Soo...Caleb finally gets the proposal to go to Pandora! For those of you who screamed "Phobos" at the last chapter well a cookie just for you because you were absolutey right!**

**And no I can tell you beforehand that Phobos, even if even now he is a total arrogant bastard with his narcissistic behavior and his cocky character, he is not going to be the villain of the story but as you see his role is really important since he calls upon this project and finds the proper volunteers! I can tell he will appear more on one or two chapters that follow so you won't miss him really much! Hahahahhaa!**

**Now for Caleb being totally ignorant of Pandora it was first to maintain some of the themes of the story and secondly because he is a veteran so he probably spent more time in battlefield than at home searching about the Internet.**

**Soon more characters will be introduced!**

W.I.T.C.H belongs to Disney

Avatar belongs to James Cameron

Writing/Editing done by me

Tribes of meridian belong to **katerinaaqu **and **YarArts2**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Three days later Caleb was carrying his military sack on his shoulder and he was approaching in another base where he was supposed to meet his future superior. Phobos had given him detailed instructions inside the email he had sent him along with a Digital Pass that would allow him to enter the base immediately. Once he did, Caleb took a look around. He remembered he had been there before once in his life but he had never trained to that place in the past. Many things seemed to have changed ever since. The Neo-Southampton Base was named to be one of the best marine bases in all United States, taking in only the best of marines and train them in a very special training in weapons and hand-to-hand compact. The dorms seemed neat-clean and tidy and even he who wasn't a great fan of complicated machines and was never really into searching for state-of-art gadgets, he could see the last piece of technology in all radars and tanks around him. Caleb saw this base as the "good-college-material" stuff; whoever had to pay, they got to enter, or so he saw it himself, who could not afford paying even a single extra dollar for a better piece of equipment. He always saw this type of facility with cold indifference and perhaps a hint of envy. However he managed to persuade himself, every time, that he did not need all that since he was receiving a pretty decent training even to the…lower quality facilities he lived in.

As he walked across the yard, with his military sack on his shoulder, several teams of jogging soldiers passed by him, accompanied by their trainer yelling orders at them. Somewhere else he could hear the vast sounds of gunshots as marines were practicing at firing their guns. Those scenes, sounds and smells were all too familiar to Caleb, part of his everyday life, so he did not pay too much attention to details. He only marched across the yard to ask one of the guards where the supposed meeting room was. And then he saw him. The billionaire was standing there, with his hands folded behind his back and his silver hair flowing in the summer wind. Caleb sighed a bit before going to him. Phobos grinned accepting the military salute Caleb gave him.

"Accurate as I requested, I see, marine! Excellent; I thank you deeply for coming here on time. If you please; follow me."

Caleb narrowed his eyes slightly, partly in annoyance, partly in suspicion but he followed non-the-less, hoping to get the answers he thirsted for so badly, after they would get somewhere in private. It was a hot noon of June and the heat was indeed high. Ever since the Earth's climate had changed, no one could be sure of how the weather would be and there were often dry, violent storms following the humid days of the city. Caleb approached the other man and Phobos immediately did a half-turn and started walking towards the central building of the base with Cedric always following to his tail. Caleb knew he had no choice but following himself. Phobos led him through the yard and behind the building. Caleb looked at it rather stupefied as they passed by. He thought that he was here to be informed for his mission. Surely Phobos wouldn't want to talk to him about a billion-dollar experiment out in fresh air where practically _hundreds_ of ears could listen plainly. He shifted his eyes to Phobos's back again; to that back completely covered by that platinum waterfall he had for hair.

"Aren't we going in to talk, sir?" asked the confused marine

Phobos smirked while walking, even if Caleb could not see his smirk from behind.

"Oh, we are, marine," replied the billionaire, "But first we need to pick another member of our project. She was supposed to be training here today."

"She?"

"Precisely. In order for the project to be a complete success, we needed to require both a man and a woman. Ah, perfect timing! There she is!"

Caleb raised his eyes to see…a ring of soldiers around a single figure. Her hair was pure-blonde like sunlight and long; he could tell that even if it was tied in a high ponytail on top of her head. The woman was tall for a female but even so she seemed delicate compared to other women marines he had seen even if she was the same toned and muscular. The woman was dressed like everyone in khaki pants and a khaki sleeveless top while she bore the usual black boots and black belt. Her hands were also covered with black gloves that left her fingers bare. The woman was obviously practicing to sparring for she was releasing battle cries, occasionally kicking the marines that were coming at her. Her legs seemed elastic and muscular. In fact, Caleb noted, her legs appeared to be her strongest point, not that her punches didn't seem strong enough! The woman gave a swift, spinning kick to one man and immediately grabbed the arm of another coming behind her and threw him off her shoulder. Caleb whistled without noticing. The girl sure got some moves! It was hard to determine her age but she appeared to be somewhere between 18 and 25 years of age. At a sudden pose the woman stopped, panting for breath and mopped some sweat that was glistering on her forehead with the back of her gloved hand. Her attention was drawn by Phobos's slow clapping. She sharply turned her head towards his direction.

"Bravo! Excellent as always, Miss Hale!" said the platinum-haired man.

The woman let out another breath and then bestirred herself to salute in the usual military way. Caleb blinked. This woman was acting almost like a machine; following everything they taught her in her training and yet Caleb had the feeling there was more to her rather than icy-cold manners, like all that typical acting was to hide something. And yet…Hale? Where had he heard that name before?

"Your compliments flatter me, sir!" the woman answered in the meantime. Her voice was cold and calculated like a good-oiled machine.

"Not at all, my dear," Phobos continued in his usual sleek tone, "I expected nothing less from Cornelia Hale, the Neo-Southampton prodigy!"

Wait a sec! Cornelia Hale, was the name? The daughter of Harold Hale, the General who was honored as a hero after his mysterious disappearance so many years ago, Caleb thought. Man that would explain a lot and first of all why she was in here in the first place; into this…Harvard of the military!

"Allow me to introduce you to your partner, Caleb Barton."

The look Cornelia shot him, reminded Caleb of some Queen facing a hungry and _dirty_ beggar, who had just ruined her favorite dress with his dirty hands.

"Sir…" said she coldly

Caleb found himself at loss of words and that had not happened many times in his life before. For a moment he came to question himself what family member of hers had he killed. No other thing could explain such sour temper against him. She didn't even know him, for God's sakes! He rolled his eyes though and shrugged it off. She was just too beautiful for her own good and most likely that had also made her proud. No doubt the money her family got because of her father's post-mortem pension added more to that. He watched her fixing her ponytail, re-tying it to put the hairs that got loose during her sparring back in place and after drinking a few gulps of water she grabbed her belongings and followed Phobos inside. Caleb watched the view wondering even more of what kind of project they were supposed to participate in; first he, a war veteran and then her, a military rich-girl prodigy were supposed to work onto something, on an entirely unknown planet to the other side of their universe. This work seemed all the more fishy to the already suspicious marine.

"Marine!"

Caleb raised his head as Phobos's voice was heard from farther away.

"Are you coming or not?"

Caleb rolled his eyes again.

"Right away, sir…" said he before grabbing his sack over his shoulder and following the billionaire inside the building.

* * *

The "presentation room" they had chosen had only a plastic, crescent-moon-shaped table in the middle and a projection tablet screen hanging from the ceiling before it. The diaphanous, rectangle object was silent now but Caleb knew that what would be presented there wouldn't be without importance. The room was small, very small actually and barely had space to walk around the table. This seemed like the conference room in CIA courters where only a few ears were allowed to listen to what it would be told. It reminded Caleb of some small box that was supposed to hold everything in it secret from indiscreet eyes and ears. Cornelia had already taken her seat and Caleb did the same after Phobos's encouragement and he sat on a chair next to her. Phobos sat on the other side of the table and opened his briefcase again.

"So we finally gathered here." Phobos said, "Thank you both for answering so positively to my call."

Caleb half-scoffed and the right corner of his mouth twitched upwards in an illusion of a smirk. He could tell from kilometers away that Phobos was only 'politely' thanking them for their response. He would almost swear that he _knew_ they would join him in the end. He had taken his time choosing them. He had heard that Caleb had nothing in this planet to fight for and by barely looking at his lemon-sour companion, he could tell that for some reason Cornelia was even more determined than he was about this project. Therefore thanking them was not really necessary, after all. To Caleb it seemed almost the same as though he had ordered them to respond. Meanwhile the billionaire got hold of a remoter and clicked it towards the screen. The screen immediately lit on.

"Now…" Phobos continued, "To continue with our main purpose…Pandora."

He lit his tablet and transferred the file from its screen to the TV-like screen he lit a second ago. Some letters appeared and then the images of vast forests and greenery filled the lifeless screen and made it almost look like a window to the dream world. Both soldiers half-opened their mouths in a silent respiration of awe and respect. The images were obviously taken by a drone of some sort, for Caleb almost felt like _he_ was flying over those forests, almost feeling the breeze to his face and the scent of grass and leaves to his nostrils. At the same time an artificial woman voice started narrating briefly, yet charmingly what they were seeing (like those rare movies still saved today from Discovery Channel or BBC, so long ago).

"_**Pandora; a world of wonder and mystery; incredible danger and strange beauty…"**_

Caleb found himself unable to take his glance off that screen. He had seen photos, yes, but those vast, lively and moving images, the voice of the computer-narrator and the faint sounds of wildlife that were coming to his eyes and ears were making him feel almost hypnotized. This experience he was having now had nothing to do with the shock of realization and the brief idea he got from Phobos three days ago. His heart was hammering against his ribcage and he realized a couple of times that he had stopped breathing from time to time. Only Phobos's voice drew him out of his daydream as his voice sounded stronger over the artificial one.

"As you can see, soldiers, this is the greatest discovery of all time for many centuries and I believe it's needless to point out its importance to us and to our kind."

He eyed his audience as if to make sure that he still had their outmost attention.

"And so comes, the discovery that we waited for hundreds of years; the discovery of a fellow intelligent form of life, of fellow humanoid creatures if you please; the Na'vi."

"Who..?" Caleb interrupted with an honest and totally spontaneous question

Cornelia Hale eyed him as if she had faced the worst idiot on Earth and said, with a face that even medieval queens would feel jealous of.

"The humanoid alien creatures residing in Pandora; you don't even know that? Everyone knows the name!"

Caleb pushed his lips together partly to control his temper and also his embarrassment at the situation.

"I…am not fond of Internet!" said his hurt pride.

That was not a lie after all. He was never that good with computers and cell phones like most young people of his time, but also Cornelia's attitude had once more placed him in such a position of awkwardness that he forgot to mention he spent most of his time at war fields. In the end he consoled himself by thinking that there was not even reason for him mentioning that. Phobos smiled in amusement at their small "conversation" (adding more to Caleb's nervousness) and he clicked a button on the remoter. The screen changed and the images gave their places to detailed diagrams. It pictured two strange bodies; one male and one female obviously. The alien figures were really thin, almost scrawny, and seemed tall. Their skin was blue and stripped, their eyes pure golden-yellow as well as big for the size of their heads and the ears were small and conical, placed somewhere over their eyes to either side of their heads. Their faces, despite the clear alien features seemed beautiful in their own way. They seemed to have fleshy lips and noses that resembled feline creatures of earth. They seemed to have no eyebrows but they had intrigue patterns on their faces, which reminded Caleb of fairy dust from fairytales. Their anatomical profiles also showed them having small tails crowned with black hair. Their hair was black as well and both of them seemed to have long braids styled similarly. Their models were spinning on the screen, very slowly, so Caleb managed to see that their braids started off from the top of their heads. The rest of their bodies had something animalistic and at the same time humanoid. Caleb saw that they only had four fingers in their long and thin palms as well as four toes. The big toe had slightly bigger distance from the index one, something that intrigued Caleb as well as the rest of their appearance. A quick glance to his companion with the corner of his eye brought Caleb a satisfied smirk on the lips; Cornelia Hale seemed as surprised as he was while staring at the figures. Obviously she knew the name but had never seen so detailed images of Pandoran habitants before.

"Behold the Na'vi!" Phobos continued, "The local habitants of Pandora; from what we know they reside this planet almost as long as human race resides on Earth; humanoid creatures that possess human intelligence. They can reach in incredible height; 9 to 10 feet tall. They are sufficiently stronger than humans and have stronger senses if sight, smell and hearing. Our researchers on Pandora have sent us certain pieces of information, regarding their culture. Apparently they hold a Neolithic way of life, mostly hunting animals and gathering fruits and roots from the forests. There is no sign of agriculture as far as we know. Their physiology is similar to human one, and from what we know their intelligence is similar to human but our scientists made an interesting assumption; that their brains are several times more complex than ours."

Noticing the surprised gasp that came almost in union out of the two marines' mouths, Phobos immediately added:

"We do not know what that means but they have a neurological system much more complex than ours and our scientists believe their brain should be complex enough to support that. Proof to that appears to be the observation that the Na'vi brain is consisted of three cerebral hemispheres instead of two like us! The key to their neurological system appears to be this:"

With those words he pointed at the long braid at the male figure.

"That our scientists call 'The Queue', an apparent strand of hair that hides, though, an entire system of exposed neurons, which are vital for the Na'vi system. The locals call it '_tswin_'…"

He leaned his elbows on the table, tangling his fingers under his chin.

"Their language is unknown to any culture we know on Earth. Some of our linguists contacted them and managed to exchange some knowledge, enough to talk to them."

"If you managed to come in contact with them then why are your relationships tensed?" Caleb asked, taking advantage of a moment of silence.

Cornelia eyed him a bit annoyed at the interruption but Phobos did not seem disturbed. On the contrary he smirked and untangled his fingers, as though he expected that question, if not wishing for it to surface.

"That, Mr. Barton, is easy to assume if you consider the reason we are on Pandora in the first place. Of course the interest for a new planet that can sustain life and that it hosts human intelligence. Anthropological and linguistic studies are, of course, blessed and interesting but the real reason we reside on Pandora is this!"

And with that he held up a small piece of mineral. Both marines leaned closer to see. It looked both like stone and like metal. It had an intriguing silver, metallic color and it had the appearance not only like metal or stone but also like crystal.

"Behold, the Unobtanium! This valuable mineral is, without the slightest exaggeration, the salvation of our planet. This mineral that was discovered under Pandora's surface in room temperature is a super-constructor of energy. It is extremely valuable and practically the solution for energy crisis."

He handed the small stone, big as his palm, to Caleb to touch it. Caleb felt its cold, smooth surface in his hands. It gave the impression of uncut mined crystal. Caressing it with his hand he could not believe that he was holding something coming from the outer space! Handing it over to Cornelia, to his left, she took it almost eagerly in her hands to examine it in turn.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Phobos asked rhetorically, "An extraordinary, practically harmless, piece of metal is the solution to our energy resources. However because of its importance and its rarity is also extremely pricy. This metal runs for about 20 million dollars per kilogram when unrefined and 40 millions when it is in refined state."

Caleb was glad he wasn't holding it at that moment cause he would probably have dropped it. That meant he was holding in his palm about 600.000 dollars a second ago! Cornelia too looked up rather shocked but she seemed still calmer than he was. Perhaps she had heard before about Unobtanium even if she never heard the exact details regarding its value.

"As you understand now, holding our ground in Pandora is a matter of life and death to us. Mining this mineral is extremely time-consuming and extremely expensive but it's worth every minute and every cent of the effort!"

Caleb sighed sadly without realizing it. He, somehow, knew what that meant; large-scale mining, destruction of rainforests, pollution of the air (despite the new environmentally-friendly devices) and most likely complete indifference for the locals. He only hoped that they would follow the rules properly regarding safety and environment even if he highly doubted it.

"Escanor Enterprises of Energy Department the past years have purchased a great number of shares from the Recourses Development Administration; or RDA for short…"

"_Which means; he pretty much owns the whole thing!"_ Caleb thought to himself.

" …And this has given us access to all the equipment we needed in order to send workers on Pandora to extract this mineral. Pandora's air is highly toxic to humans but its atmosphere has some similar aspects with ours, so we can work with the minimum of equipment in the open without real problem. Generally the only thing needed is an air-filter to provide a person with the necessary breathable air and nothing else is needed. Our workers use this RDA Exopack for breathing."

Cedric approached the table and placed on it something that looked like a full-face glass mask connected to a backpack-sized oxygen box with a rubber tube. Phobos pushed it towards the two marines.

"This device will filter the air for the wearer to breathe normally. It lasts for about two weeks before the filter needs changing. Other devices are used as well for emergencies and provide our workers and scientists with the necessary, breathable air. Temperatures on Pandora are also very friendly to humans so we do not need much to sustain ourselves in that environment."

He made a pause and sipped some water from a small bottle he had with him.

"Of course," he continued, "We have other equipment too. There are military troops that use them, as well as workers when they do not want to come in contact with poisonous plants. The most sufficient is the AMP Suit."

He clicked another button and to the screen appeared a large robotic suit with humanoid arms and legs.

"AMP stands for 'Amplified Mobility Platform'. It allows the wearer perform very precise tasks from the safety of the robotic closed space and is equipped with an AMP Suit Knife, for the self-defense of the wearer."

Caleb had enough explaining of the environment for now. He still hadn't got any explanation why _he_ was there and why he was so hastily and, not to mention, _secretly_ called for that so-called project.

"Sir," Caleb spoke again, "All that you mention is indeed fascinating and I still have trouble even believing that such things are possible in the first place. However where do we fit in this plan? The only service we can offer is in the army of RDA but apart from that what different service can we offer to all this that was not already offered?"

Phobos smirked for yet another time.

"And here we came to the main point, marine!" he said excitedly, "It is finally time to reveal the details of the Avatar Project!"

"Avatar Project?"

Phobos smirked and that face reminded Caleb of a cat ready to attack a mouse. He seemed self-complacent to say the very least.

"It is a new project, running for a couple of decades now and it was in an experimental stage till now…"

He clicked another button and to the screen appeared, once more, the two Na'vi figures Caleb had seen before. It took him half a minute to realize that they were not actually Na'vi he was looking at. The male and female figures had some really fundamental, yet tiny, differences; their eyes were smaller and had eyebrows crowning them, their 'queues' started from the bottom of their head instead of the top and, most importantly, they had five fingers and five toes.

"Behold the Avatars, the most complicated yet sufficient way of coming in contact with the locals. It provides the ultimate freedom of movement inside the hostile atmosphere of Pandora! What you see, marines, is a project that creates artificial bodies in almost perfect imitation of the local Na'vi with small, though, differences. The Avatars are created…custom-made for each individual created out of their very own DNA. The Avatar has some common features with the 'human prototype' donor, whom we refer to as Driver. The Avatars are almost perfectly anatomically Na'vi minus as you see the four fingers and toes and the smaller eyes as well as the queue on the base of the nape instead of the top of the scull. We are not entirely sure why this had to happen but it was proved essential for the artificial body to be created. Apparently it was the only way to balance the human DNA with Na'vi physiology."

He stopped for a second to make sure he was given the necessary attention (for which no one would have doubts since the listeners were practically awe-struck). He pressed another button and now the Avatar profiles got the Na'vi profiles next to them in comparison.

"The complexity of Na'vi, and so Avatar, brain made this project achievable. The Driver is connected remotely with his or her Avatar and when the human body sleeps, the Avatar body awakes!"

Caleb had the impression he was getting closer and closer to the heart attack or the stroke. He had heard of those kinds of things only in science fiction movies, despite the drastic, technological achievements and now…there they were discussing of such a thing!

"There was a first meeting between two scientists, who were trying the prototypes and the locals but eventually the Na'vi learnt to recognize the Drivers. They even gave them a name; _uniltìrantokx_, the Dream Walkers!"

The two soldiers eyed each other for a brief moment, upon hearing their most likely future boss chuckling at that name. Cedric also smirked cat-like as if to mimic his boss at that mutual understanding of the joke. Caleb for a second time came in contact with another word of this foreign, alien literally, language and felt a slight feeling of awe hearing this billionaire dealing with its rather exotic sounds. Caleb had no doubt that Phobos Escanor had drilled within the alien language. He wasn't sure if he spoke it but he surely was familiar with its accent, at least when it came to random words.

"The project cannot take under its wing just every random person," Phobos brought them back to reality, "Mainly because the cost of the program is astronomical. The creation of one Avatar takes roughly 5 million dollars. You can imagine amounts of money like that are not easily found yet alone spared! There are special criteria for the selection of the Drivers, among others; excellent coordination skills, mental acuity and resistance to mental fatigue. After months of negotiation, government and several sponsors finally agreed on paying us 10.000.000 dollars for our project in order for us to create two Avatars."

With one click of the remoter the screen switched off and the blinds of the room went up anew, filling the room with the natural daylight. Caleb felt like he was outside of reality till that moment, barely realizing what time it was and that it was still noon outside. Phobos leaned his elbows onto the table eyeing the two marines with his green eyes.

"Soldiers Caleb Barton and Cornelia Hale…you are selected to be the first 'long term' Avatar Drivers on Pandora!" said he in the most formal tone, "Your job is to come to contact with the locals and persuade them seize the attacks that damage our business, come to an agreement and, if possible, persuade the locals change residence position."

The two of them gasped in surprise and somehow pride that they were chosen for such a confidential mission.

"In order to do that," the CEO continued, "You'll probably have to enter their societies, learn their ways…become one of them… The Na'vi have a mystical way of life and only one of them appears to have the right to speak to their council. Scientists failed to gain their confidence. Perhaps you can achieve what others failed to do."

Phobos, next, did something unexpected; he eyed Cornelia this time and his voice sounded almost compassionate.

"Miss Hale, I understand this might be a bit of a shock or better that you might feel conflicted, since your father perished during one of the most violent confrontations between soldiers and Na'vi in the first years on Pandora, that your father died heroically while helping his comrades and fell dead by the poisonous arrows of the Na'vi but we found no one better for this job than you; his well-trained daughter."

Caleb now was really shocked. So, her father was killed on Pandora? And yet they were asking her to approach those creatures that killed her father? Without wanting, Caleb felt a wave of compassion inside him for that girl. She looked no older than 20 and yet she already had been through some really sad experiences even for a soldier. He saw Cornelia's face hardening and a small wrinkle of anger forming between her delicate, blonde eyebrows. He could tell there was a battle going on inside her but her response was immediate.

"I feel honored, sir!" said she, "I could ask of no other fate but the one my father had. All my life I have been dreaming of having a chance of walking on his footsteps. I am a soldier. I will follow my duty, sir."

Caleb was surprised at the coldness of her words but Phobos seemed satisfied.

"Good," he nodded, "I take then that you both will take the mission."

Caleb and Cornelia nodded almost in union. Not even after the horrible things he had heard did Caleb feel less excitement for that mission. Suddenly he felt like child again; ready to go on an adventure.

"Excellent." Phobos said and then added while pushing the tablet towards them once more, "You will be travelling with the Interstellar Vehicle Venture Star next week. It will take you five years to reach Pandora and you'll be travelling in a capsule in cryosleep. Till you have reached the Alpha Centauri your Avatars will be almost entirely mature and ready to be tested."

He checked a digital watch to his left wrist.

"Now, according to schedule, you'll be transferred immediately to Interstellar Station where we'll run the final tests on your physical and mental conditions and take the DNA samples to start the creation of your Avatars!"

He eyed his startled and yet excited audience and for the first time that day he grinned widely, revealing a set of perfect, prelate teeth.

"Therefore, soldiers, you better prepare yourself cause in a few hours you must get ready for the biggest journey of your life!"

* * *

**Hello people! I know it's been a while ever since I posted a chapter of it and I know that I had _tons _of people begging for a new chapter (that was obvious self-sarcasm! )I decided to post another one.**

**Okay and I have to be perfectly honest **HopePaty (DA) **did request it to continue so here it is!**

**As you see Caleb finally met Cornelia! And they are to go together to Pandora to delve into the world of the Na'Vi! I know this chapter is too...technical but I wanted just to...show-off my trivia research and write a chapter based on trivia of the movie! Among others of course the Na'vi vs Avatar physiology and differences between them.**

**And nooo Corny is a sour piece of work! But as you see she has a reason for it and that will play critical role to the whole storyline (and basically one of the major differences of my crossover plot with the actual Avatar movie. Kind of Corny has this "Neitiri mentality" here that "All Na'vi are bad" because her father was killed and was potentially unburied. As far as Corny is concerned he was brutally murdered in an ambush and he was left there)**

**Also yeah I want to show both sides' faults. Humans who trespass and mangle a world that is not theirs but also the locals are not just setting vehicles on fire in my edition but also fight back (understandable) but there are families on earth that lost people too on Pandora and yeah that has a major role to the plot, mainly for Corny but for others too!**

Caleb and Corny are featured to the sketch collection by YarArts-Of-Metamoor yararts-of-…

W.I.T.C.H belongs to Disney

Avatar belongs to James Cameron

Writing/Edition done by me

Tribes of Meridian belong to **katerinaaqu** and **YarArts-Of-Metamoor**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Caleb let out a breath as the syringe was extracted off his skin, carrying the valuable blood sample inside it. No matter how many years had he fought in battlefields, Caleb was never particularly fond of injections and hospitals in general. He had some pretty nasty experiences when he had to get in some of them while he was still fighting in battlefields. He believed some of them were responsible for the scars he had all over his body (even if he never really minded them anyway). He added pressure on the small piece of cotton the nurse placed upon his injection wound. After a series of tests and DNA samples from hair, tissues and now blood Caleb still had a hard time to believe what had happened. He was practically waiting for a…alien clone of himself to be created! He sat on the small bed as the nurse left him alone. He leaned his bare arms onto his knees and hanged his head between them in deep thought for a moment. He tried to put his thoughts in order and comprehend with everything that would soon happen. He would practically leave his country, his planet, his very _solar system_, he would travel for more than five years to that planet and in five years many things happen; a war, a catastrophe or even a freaking comet could strike Earth while he would be travelling…interstellar! He would have no connection with reality whatsoever as he would be slumbering in a dreamless sleep like a freaking hibernating vampire. The idea of sleeping like this was not particularly appealing to him either. He had always been a man of action and he always wanted to take his destiny to his own two hands. However now he was practically vulnerable to everything and he was entrusting his fate to someone else's hands not for one night, not for one week but for _five whole years_! The thought was not appealing at all. He would be exposed to all dangers and would be unable to defend himself… Caleb shook his head from side to side.

"_What are you thinking, Caleb?"_ he scolded himself, _"That won't be a warzone! And I doubt there's going to be any…hijacking in the outer space!"_

He supposed he could not stop himself from thinking like a marine after all. Maybe he should but then again he went by with this way of thinking almost all his life… Deciding that there was no real need to think of it any further, he decided to take a walk around the corridors. They were given pretty comfortable rooms in the Interstellar Station while they were supposed to wait for their great trip. He was comfortable but the excitement of the trip would not leave him in peace and so he could not sit on one spot for too long. He needed this constant movement. He marched across a white hallway and he saw a couple of nurses walking past him. The Interstellar Station might indeed be called a "station" and be the departing point for the interstellar trips but in reality it seemed like an actual town itself; a huge terminal that had its own hospital, 'hotel' and even shops. There was even a quarantine room for those who came from the outer space. This hospital district of the terminal was pure-white and clean, it smelt of medicine and room aromatics. As he walked a few rooms farther he noticed one of the doors was open. He stopped for a moment and looked inside. He saw Cornelia Hale having finished with her own blood samples. She seemed to be taking the whole hospital thing more calmly than he did. Show off, he wanted to say to her but he held his tongue. Like him, she was dressed all in white, wearing a white pair of cotton pants and a sleeveless white vest. Her hair was down, for the first time Caleb saw her and he finally could see its true length. Her hair was indeed purely straight and reached her hips. The hospital room's whiteness made her look even paler and even more like a porcelain doll within the glass front of a store. He didn't like her attitude but he would be a liar if he said that she wasn't beautiful. The woman was indeed too beautiful to be a soldier and now he knew why. He felt a curious mixture of respect and admiration along with irritation, anger and perhaps a hint of repellent for that woman. She was beautiful yes, and hurt and really brave and capable but she was also too arrogant for his tastes and her hardships did not excuse her bossy behavior against him. Feeling his presence both her and the nurse looked up. Cornelia's crystal blue eyes nearly turned to ice from that look she gave him. Caleb sighed, running his hand through his brown hair. Here we go again, he thought, but he decided to give her a chance since now he knew her hard experience. Her father was killed on another planet and left his bones there, after all (not that this situation seemed to Caleb any different than the hundreds of thousands soldiers who left their remains somewhere in another battlefield on Earth but…). He decided to give her a chance and perhaps try to approach her…

"Hey…" said he awkwardly, "I see you're done."

Cornelia did not respond. She only glared at him and then turned to the nurse. She smiled to her and thanked her in a whisper before she left the room. Cornelia was left alone with Caleb but she did not seem to be paying attention. She had already started fixing herself. Her highly-and-mighty look boiled annoyance in him again but he controlled his temper once more. He decided to smile instead.

"Well…I guess our…Avatars are to be made now, huh…?"

"Yeah…" replied she laconically while placing some of her stuff in her bag.

"Amazing ain't it?" Caleb chuckled, "I am curious to see how it will look! Or how Pandora will look..!"

Not even his chuckle seemed to have any affect. In fact he had the impression that the name of Pandora drew her even farther from him. He felt her closing herself like an oyster. Caleb sighed and ran his hand through his hair again.

"Look, I just came to see if you are okay."

"Well you saw me." Cornelia replied coldly not even looking at him, "Anything else?"

Calm down, Caleb kept saying to himself, calm down she's not worth it!

"I…I only wanted to say…I'm sorry for your father. He…he was a good soldier and…I'm sorry for what you had to face…"

"Yeah… Me too," came the cold answer

She shot up to her feet from where she was crouching before and for the first time she truly eyed him.

"I don't need your pity, marine! I need nothing of this. I only need my peace and quiet to prepare myself for the trip! And you were leaving…?"

This was too much!

"Yes!" Caleb replied also coldly and stomped out of the room.

* * *

Ugh! How could this woman talk to him like that while he was trying to be nice? How dared she? Who did she think she was? Caleb was clenching his energy-drink cup so much that he had almost deformed it. He had gone down to the cantina, hoping to clear his head and not starting screaming to people. After taking a drink he decided not to get drunk on duty so he skipped his second drink and got this…well… this supposedly nutritious energy drink; just artificial water like artificial was everything about this planet anymore!

"_Can't wait to get out of here!"_ he thought before he could stop himself.

Drawn into his thoughts he didn't notice Cedric, who was supposed to see them off, sitting right next to him. Only when he heard him there did he look up to see him.

"Hello, sir…" he whispered

"You are older than her, you know." Cedric said without a moment of hesitation and his gray-blue eyes shone almost with sardonic pleasure, "You are a veteran and she's not… Technically, you are her superior."

Caleb scoffed sarcastically.

"I know." Replied he, "I just tried to be nice and show her understanding, but if it's cold orders she wants, that's what I'll give her!"

He realized he had let his anger take over him and he mentally cursed himself but he also cursed for Cedric and Phobos! These two almost seemed like demons! They could see through you somehow. He sighed defeated and took another sip off his drink. Better drink than talk, Caleb scolded himself. Cedric let him in silence for a few moments and then he spoke again.

"Mr. Escanor wants you be the head of this operation. He needs your experience in battlefield to be his eyes and ears and he trusts in your leadership. If the Na'vi desire only one of the two to do the talking and the connections, he wants to be you the one to perform them."

Caleb scoffed sarcastically before he had time to stop himself.

"I doubt she would be any willing to do it anyway, sir. Those aliens killed her father after all…"

Cedric returned the scoff.

"True. However no matter what the reason, Mr. Escanor has high expectations from you."

"I always thought that people tend to overestimate me, sir."

Cedric chuckled at that.

"Your spirit is admirable, marine!" said he, "Let's hope you'll sustain it even on Pandora after your duty is done!"

"_IF it's done…"_ Caleb thought bitterly.

True there was always a chance that the locals would never believe him and if that was the case they could probably shoot him on spot. Then he would care the less how much money this story would give him. Dangers of the profession, he supposed.

"Fear not, sir," Caleb said, "I don't plan on dying and leaving my bones there like General Hale!"

Cedric Nagar smirked at him and Caleb felt his cheeks flaring up. Damn, he thought, why couldn't he make a phrase without adding the word "Hale" in it? Why wouldn't that annoying woman stop twirling into his mind annoyingly? He realized why; it bothered him that such a beautiful woman was so sour of the world. Sure, he could understand her but that didn't mean he liked the fact that a woman, who was supposed to enjoy her youth and beauty, was so sour about it. It also bothered him her hostility towards him. He could get why she was so cold but there was no reason for her to be hostile to him, especially when he was trying to be nice to her and she didn't even know him for goodness sakes! Cedric chuckled for a second and then patted the marine on the back. The move was typical yet friendlier than Caleb expected and so he was taken aback.

"Rest, marine," Cedric advised, "You have a long trip before you and preparations are still to be made."

And he stood up leaving Caleb alone. Caleb enclosed himself in silence once more. He found no words to express his emotions not even in his mind. He was indeed leaving from his country, his planet and even his solar system to serve somewhere else. He could still remember his small apartment before he had left it a day before. He didn't have many belongings in it and none of them was particularly dear to him. He had a computer he almost never used, his large TV, some dusted disks for music… The very few clothes he had, he had taken them with him, his ID tags too… If anyone broke into his deserted apartment would find nothing of real value to steal (neither true value nor emotional one). He hadn't even spent too long in that apartment to begin with, since he was traveling a lot in battlefields and yet, that small hole inside that concrete and iron jungle, had been his home for more than five years…the only place he ever dared to call "home" in this planet… He had felt a slight moment of hesitation or even sadness when he locked that apartment before his departure. He would never see that apartment again for more than ten years and who knew if he would ever return to see it… Five years to go and five years to return were too many on their own (and God knew how many things would change during that time) and he would spend God knew how much time on that planet. Phobos Escanor had clearly stated that there was no time limit on that project.

"_What the hell have I put myself into…?"_ Caleb thought.

He sighed and rubbed his face with both hands once. He had indeed abandoned everything and as far as he was concerned, the locals would be little pleased by their presence. Heck, he had no clue how he would even communicate with them! Only now he could see the true danger and the true uncertainty of this mission! He drew a deep breath anew and he realized that there was indeed no reason for him to panic. He came back to the conclusion that this mission was no different than going to war. When going off to battlefield there was little to no guarantee that someone would come back alive. Why would this mission be different? Only sizes and names differed. He sighed again, running a hand through his chestnut hair. He stood up and threw the cup into a trash bin. He marched across the hall without bothering looking around him anymore. What would be the point to do so, if he would probably never come back again? He still had mixed feelings about the Na'vi locals but his mind was more at ease now that he had reached his resonation. He got into his room and pressed the touch-screen to its side. The door slid close behind him. Outside dusk was falling already. He gave one last, soulless look at the vast jungle of iron and concrete outside and then he headed to his bed. He lay on it and relaxed his muscles completely, emptying his mind from every other thought, like he had learnt to do during his marine training. After a couple of minutes he had drifted off in a quiet slumber…

That night Caleb dreamt he was flying…

* * *

**Yes people I finally decided to post yet another chapter. **HopePaty (DA)** had requested an update to the previous chapter's comment. It took me some time but I decided that I should get going with the next one.**

**I know that this chapter hasn't given much to the plot but to me it was important for Caleb to show some more of his emotional world (because it has a lot to do with his character development and how his mindset about everything is going to change) plus his conflict with Cornelia as they started off the wrong foot and it seems it is getting worse for now. It is also a key to Corny's hostile behavior and I thought I should also picture some extra stuff of how I suppose people would get prepared to travel to Alpha Centauri instead of straight out show them arriving there, like the movie did.**

**I promise that by Chapter 5 we will finally move to the actual movie plot. I might think on a couple of alterations to the script I gave to **YarArts-Of-Metamoor (DA)** to add a couple of more details here and there but I still am not sure. Still thinking about it.**

**Anyway the whole Interstellar Station was purely my invention ( I have no idea what James Cameron might have had in his mind for it) and also how the DNA samples are taken from the two of them to create the Avatars that are supposed to mature on their way to Pandora.**

**Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts/critiques etc. Thank you.**

**This AU's first glance was originally featured in here:** Sketch Dump Part 6 (on Deviantart)** by **YarArts-Of-Metamoor

W.I.T.C.H belongs to Disney

Avatar belongs to James Cameron

Writing/Editing done by me

Tribes of Meridian belong to **katerinaaqu** and **YarArts-Of-Metamoor**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

His green eyes flapped open and blinked repeatedly. The first thing he saw was the bluish light in front of him and then…a couple of water droplets were floating before him, sometimes separating, sometimes joining together as if by miracle. He was greeted by a light feel of freeze and by the steady and monotone sound of his heart monitor… Caleb had no idea what to feel. He was feeling his head throbbing and twirling in circles and his stomach was a bit unsettled too but it was nothing the young marine couldn't handle. In fact, it felt no different than any other strong hangover he had been through in the past. Sure, his head throbbed painfully as if someone was beating him up with an iron bar and his stomach felt like ready to throw up his last meal but… His last meal…? Caleb wondered for a second when was the last meal he had. Ah, yes, it was when he was at the Interstellar Station, when Phobos had come to see them off…six years ago?! Caleb suddenly realized it was six years ago the last time he was awake, the last time he ate…the last time he was on Earth… It took him two whole minutes to realize it was indeed six years ago because nothing gave him that impression. Nothing felt like years had passed; it seemed like it was only yesterday when Caleb got in the ship, a woman dressed in white had taken him to a small capsule and she told him to lie down. Once he had done so, the woman had injected something in his arm and immediately Caleb felt cold running down his veins… He lay down, feeling lightheaded and he barely felt the woman placing tubes all over his body…his heartbeat was beginning calmer and he felt a sweet silence taking over him. The woman informed him he would feel nothing, he would see nothing and he would wake up once they arrived to their destination. She then pressed on a tiny switch outside the capsule and a sweet yet cold bluish light embraced Caleb. He felt like food being placed into the microwave (or in his case…the fridge…). The last thing he remembered was the woman closing the capsule's entrance. Cold soon followed but Caleb had barely felt it…

It still seemed so hard to believe that this had happened almost six years before. Caleb felt like yesterday, like he had fallen asleep and awoke normally…and his sleep was unperturbed and heavy… Indeed you don't dream in Cryo... However now he could feel temperature being higher, he could breathe normally and his heart had regained its rhythm almost completely. Caleb licked his dry lips and he felt the nausea slightly passing, giving its place to hunger. His stomach felt indeed empty at that moment. He had not too much time to think about it because the small door that had opened before slid open now and he found himself, being dragged out of the opening, like the corpses in a morgue. He realized he was still dizzy as he faced an endless corridor of such capsules being opened at the same time. The corridor was lit by a sickly white light, shining like silver to Caleb's still unused eyes… It reminded him of a form of a steel hive of bees, the way everyone was the one next to (and sometimes _on _top) someone. At that moment someone zoomed over him. It was a man dressed in all white and even wore a white cup like a surgeon. Caleb realized the man was _floating_ over him. For a moment he felt like still dreaming… The man, unperturbed, grabbed hold of his wrist with his gloved hand and checked his pulse. Caleb blinked repeatedly to chase the slight dizziness away.

"Are there yet…?" he whispered in a rusty voice.

He could still feel some cold through his lungs as he spoke, as if he were indeed a corpse. Once more he needed a few moments to realize it was indeed almost six years since the last time he had used that voice of his.

"Yeah…we're there, sunshine." The man answered his instinctive question as he began releasing him from his bindings. "We're there…"

He pat him friendly and reassuringly on the shoulder and Caleb thought he had grown younger instead of older, for he indeed needed that reassuring pat at that moment. The man left him and started informing everyone in the cabin with a loud and clear voice.

"Meeting clouds! 5 years, 9 months and 22 days…! You will be hungry, you will be weak! If you feel nauseous please use…"

While this information was lasting, Caleb released the last of the straps holding him on the bed and…he felt himself levitating… He was indeed swimming in the air… Only in dreams had he imagined himself flying but this was just out of this world! He couldn't resist the temptation moving his arms almost like aiming to swim in midair. He indeed felt weak and lightheaded and above all…hungry indeed. He would kill to have something to eat right now… He floated and went to a small locker that had his name on it and opened it to remove the necessary stuff. Somewhere further, he noticed the corn-yellow hair of Cornelia's. He saw her picking her stuff and shutting her locker closed. He shook his head and closed the locker himself, heading or better…floating towards the exit.

* * *

He had filled his stomach with the tasteless yet so much _wanted_ food he needed and was now following the human river that was floating down a corridor, closed from all sides with white plates. He passed through an automatic door and found himself before the most startling and breathtaking view he had ever seen in his life; the whole wall was a huge window, revealing the truly _astronomically beautiful _view of the destination, also showing you what was waiting for you outside… Caleb was one of the many men stuck against this startling view… Up ahead was Pandora… The small moon was exactly like a twin of Earth's; with all its green and blue seeming to wait for them. Caleb had dreamt of seeing it and now he could hardly believe it! This unworldly beauty was something he could never be prepared of! Behind this tiny orb was a blue air giant, Polyphemus; the huge planet gave you such a serene feeling watching it that you could hardly believe that it was just a ball of gas on which winds blew thousands of times faster and stronger than any terrain hurricane. It was glowing with a cold blue color of ice and mist…and it was getting closer and closer by every passing minute… The young marine was hypnotized…stuck…addicted to this sight! He had no idea how long he and the other men had been staring at this sight, nor did he care! There was no way he could move now…or else that would be the case for him and all the other soldiers waiting there if a megaphone hadn't made an announcement, startling everyone in the room and making them come back to reality.

"_**Attention please, ladies and gentlemen, everyone programmed on landing on Pandora please move to Section E of this airship to board on Valkyrie SSTO airships immediately, I repeat; please move to Section E…"**_

Caleb found the section really easily and found the small "port" of airships waiting for him. The fleet was consisted by two or three smaller airships… Well called "smaller" of course it meant smaller than the airship itself because they were fairly big and capable of carrying tons of material and people. They had the shape of a bullet-rocket with wings to its back (resembling the rockets of more than two centuries before, the 20th century Columbia), but much flatter and capable of entering and exiting a planet's atmosphere. Humans were already climbing on them when Caleb arrived. He was told to board on one of them and so he did. Suddenly his heart was beating fast. A man came to bind him on his seat and secure him properly. Caleb had so many questions on the tip of his tongue but he decided not to say a word so he wouldn't be seen like an inexperienced child, enthusiast by this whole adventure 'cause this was how Caleb felt at the moment and he did not trust his voice or attitude right now. Therefore he sat well-behaved within the cabin, having soldiers sitting in a line to either side of him like every war airplane. All of those men seemed to be equally eager as he was. Caleb spotted Cornelia once more like twenty men away from him, securing herself to her seat. The sound of a machine was heard and was soon followed by a light trembling of the cabin. Caleb's head was constantly moving around. He knew they were moving. The airship was taken out of Interstellar Vehicle, ready to be launched to Pandora. He could see nothing but he could picture the whole thing inside his head. A woman passed before each and every one of them and gave them a small box. Caleb opened it and found inside one of the breathers he had seen back on Earth. He knew what this meant; they had to wear them before they exited the airship. Soon more intense movement followed and Caleb knew they were heading towards the planet. Almost all soldiers refused even to breathe, as if still taking in their crazy trip on a crazy and most likely hostile world… As minutes passed, everyone seemed all the more nervous. Some of them had even turned pale. The intense movement stopped after a while and Caleb realized they had probably entered Pandora's atmosphere. The machine voice coming from the control room confirmed that.

"_**Exopacks on. Repeat; Exopacks on. The Pandoran atmosphere is highly volatile. Never remove your masks outdoors…"**_

Most of the soldiers were already securing their masks on before the announcement was even finished. They didn't even need that guy who arrived to give them orders to put the Exopacks on. The…"encouragement" was rather unneeded. They didn't even need him to remind them that they would probably fall unconscious in 20 seconds if they made the mistake to breathe in Pandora's air… Caleb placed the mask onto his face according to the small instructions booklet and he pressed the switches beneath his chin. He breathed in fresh air. The landing was smooth and barely noticeable by the men in the cabin. Only then could they stand to their feet and take their military sacks. They walked towards the exit, which started opening. Caleb saw Cornelia also approaching and he found her close to him once more. He breathed in as he heard the machine announcing again:

"_**Exit quickly to the forward transport…"**_

The door opened completely and everyone walked down the platform. Caleb felt his eyes being filled by this sky…he felt the light breeze on his skin and somehow he knew it was way purer than anything else he had ever felt on Earth, even if the air here could kill him. He could see the shape of Polyphemus on the slightly cloudy heavens even if it was broad daylight. The Hell's Gate, as the wall was called, was indeed a real factory. It was already built like a copy of Earth's concrete and iron monsters, Caleb wanted so much to forget. And yet he could not help but feeling impressed at the size and the organizing of that interstellar mini-city. He could see huge machines, similar to mining machines on Earth but with way bigger analogies, moving around; men and women were equally busy with those machines. The marines were already marching towards the entrance. There were three soldiers waiting there. One of them had carrot-orange spiky hair. He seemed tall and healthy and yet his face was full of pimples. One of them was rather obese for a marine and had purplish-brown hair. The other was a giant ox of a man, about two meters tall and 150 kilos of muscle. He was blonde and had honey-colored eyes. The carrot-headed one was laughing, making fun of the newcomers.

"Look at all this fresh meat!" said he.

His two companions laughed like hyenas at that. Caleb raised a brow at them. It certainly did not feel like he had traveled hundreds of thousands of miles away from his planet; mostly like he had traveled to a common marine base, where the older were teasing the rookies. Caleb eyed Cornelia next to him. She barely returned the gaze. They walked farther. Now more machines like those they had seen to the presentation came to view. Helicopters were also roaming about the heavens. Caleb barely had time moving to the side before one of the robotic armors nearly stepped on him.

"Look out, blockhead!" Caleb heard the voice of its driver, slightly altered by the machine, calling out to him before going on his way. Caleb shook his head before the two of them moved forward. A huge track about seven meter tall passed before them with its huge tractor wheels rolling a few paces away from their noses. Caleb was rather impressed by its size. It was bigger than many things he had seen on Earth. Cornelia appeared to think the same. And suddenly both froze in their tracks. No, it wasn't the wheel that made them shocked…it was rather something _on_ that wheel. There were several arrows coming out of its black rubber! Colorful feathers, attached to shafts were sticking out like deadly thorns. Apparently the tractor had a meeting with the locals. Caleb felt a lump down his throat and swallowed hard to get it down. The shafts were huge! They seemed to be the size of a man! Heck, Caleb had the impression one of those arrows was longer than his entire body! Both marines figured out that the locals were indeed huge. Caleb half-closed his eyes, trying to imagine the enormous, blue, humanoid locals, trying to picture creatures that were supposed to be tall as a ceiling of a villa, almost twice as tall as the ceiling of his tiny apartment (which was probably gathering 6-year-old dust by now) and he realized, one more time, that this was no good news. They watched the heavy machinery going farther and farther from them, sticking their eyes on those fatal wheels till it got lost from their optical field. Recovering from the shock, both marines began to pace once more, towards the entrance of the main complex. Towards the gate, the obese man looked back. He spotted them.

"Hey, check this out, man!" called he to the orange-head.

He looked along with his "gorilla" of companion and whistled lustfully.

"My, my, check it out guys! We got a Barbie girl with us today!"

Caleb noticed their gazes upon them and looked at them annoyed.

"What are you, dorks, looking at?" he challenged.

"You, loser…" the orange-head said, "You seem ready to turn to dust there! Too bad this woman is with you! She seems like a hot chick!"

Cornelia glared daggers. Caleb now was certain these guys had no minds cause if they did, they should probably have dropped dead to the ground by that gaze!

"Hey, hottie, why don't you hand up with us instead?"

Cornelia took a disgusted look and pulled farther away. The orange-head had his wrist grabbed by Caleb's strong grip.

"Leave her alone, worthless scumbag!"

"And what are you, girly? Her boyfriend or something?"

Caleb was ready to answer with his best…French but Cornelia interfered again and, much to his displeasure, not exactly on his part!

"I don't need your help, marine!" said her prideful highness, "I don't need a bodyguard to deal with a bunch of noisy pigs!"

Her face was close to that man's in a threatening way. Caleb did not have time to get angry at her because at that moment a hiss drew their attention and before they had time wondering what that was, a creature crushed against the iron net of the fence, hissing and shrieking. It looked like a colorful dragon but Caleb did not have the chance or mood admiring its complex, colorful patterns. It was hairless like a dinosaur and it had the size of one of the long extinct 'flying foxes' but this was neither cute nor seemed like fruit-eater. It had four fleshy wings and a tail, which crossed through the net. The tail had a sting on its side and was threateningly thrusting towards them. Its head was small and long and had razor-sharp teeth. Cornelia and Caleb instinctively flinched backwards, startled at that creature. Its yellow eyes were staring at them; all _four_ of them! The blonde 'gorilla' raised his pistol at that moment and shot a couple of times. The creature shrieked and fell down. Caleb and Cornelia remained frozen in place, though, still trying to catch their breath and finding the normal rhythm of their heart. The orange-haired guy came closer.

"I've seen lots of guys leave this place on a wheelchair before…" said he in a voice aiming to sound important, "But you… I doubt you're gonna be as lucky… You probably won't last a week out there…"

Caleb smirked at that guy.

"Yeah…that's what everyone told me before, at war!"

He did not have much time to enjoy the startled look on that idiot's face. He heard a female voice approaching them.

"Leave them alone, Uriah, you big dork!"

The two marines looked at that figure. It was a woman about middle of height and weight. She had half-long brown hair and bright turquoise eyes. She was dressed in khaki like everyone and wore the usual marine boots. She wasn't exactly beautiful but she had a certain, playful charm on her. It was charming how her eyes shone smartly and enthusiast and there was a playfulness in the way her tame-less hair wouldn't "sit behaved" at the low ponytail she had tried to tie it. Her face was round and pleasant. She did not seem more than 20 years old. Maybe she was 19. She saluted them and then said in a warm and pleasant voice, Caleb appreciated a lot.

"Welcome on Pandora, guys! I am Officer Irma Lair. I hate formalities so you can call me just 'Irma' or 'Lair'!"

She chuckled and that crystal and honest laughter was redemptory to Caleb.

"_Why couldn't I have her as my Avatar partner?"_ he thought for a second.

"Are you Caleb Barton and Cornelia Hale?" Irma continued.

Both marines confirmed their identities.

"Then I am in charge of showing you your rooms and for your orientation. Please follow me inside and you will next be shuttled to the main complex. We have been informed about you and your role! We have been expecting you. I am ordered to take you to your dorms. Please follow me."

They indeed followed her. As they walked, Caleb took one last glance of the dying creature. It was now twitching and making sounds like a dying insect… Irma noticed.

"You'll get used to them!" she laughed, "Some of them are a real pain but I am sure you guys can adapt here! If you need anything don't hesitate to ask!"

Caleb thanked her with a handshake. It was nice to know that there was at least one person here that did not cause his gut to turn!

* * *

**Another chapter of this story! I know it has been some time! I am sorry for the delay.**

**I wanted to thank **HopePaty(DA) **for being my commenter but also I want to thank everyone who commented on **YarArts-Of-Metamoor (DA)** picture Lost in Stars with Caleb and Dilla in her page**

PaxTellus, Passin, exocolumn, bbb35, moonlitinuyasha1985** and **HELLVANE **Thank you guys for giving my friend extra attention!**

**Anyways as I promised to the previous chapter, this one will be finally getting to the actual story, aka when Caleb and Cornelia arrive at Pandora and they are ready to begin their adventure that is about to change their lives.**

***I actually had to improvise at how Caleb must have felt when he woke up from Cryo because neither the movie nor the actual script tell us much more but the hunger and the nausea someone experiences and also Jake mentioned his Tequilla hangovers so I took some liberties to add some more info about the cold feeling and stuff.**

***The Stingbat attack was inspired by a deleated scene from Avatar movie: watch?v=oFtTNz…**

***Irma's role in this one will be double. Here she is welcoming the new Avatar Drivers. The scene was inspired by Avatar video game where there is a female soldier that comes to welcome the player and all his team to their dorms.**

**I also added the scene with the window and stuff because I just wanted to give more reactions and first impressions of the planet from Caleb's point of view. That being said, everything spoken here is supposed to be Caleb's point of view and Caleb still considers Earth and ugly place so he keeps on with that mentality for now.**

**This AU's first glance was originally featured in** Sketch Dump Part 6 (On Deviantart)** by **YarArts-Of-Metamoor

W.I.T.C.H belongs to Disney

Avatar belongs to James Cameron

Writing/Editing done by me

Tribes of Meridian belong to **katerinaaqu** and **YarArts-Of-Metamoor**


End file.
